


Right One Wrong

by uniquepov



Series: Snarry LDWS Round 5 (Mini-fic Challenge) [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-22
Updated: 2012-04-22
Packaged: 2017-11-05 08:32:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/404395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uniquepov/pseuds/uniquepov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry finds a way to save one life during the Battle of Hogwarts.</p><p>Week 6<br/>
Prompt: Time-turner</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right One Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** excerpts from DH (British First Edition)
> 
> I participated in Round 5 of the [](http://snarry-ldws.livejournal.com/profile)[**snarry_ldws**](http://snarry-ldws.livejournal.com/) \- the Mini-Fic challenge! I was lucky enough to make it to the final two, where the inimitable [](http://literaryspell.livejournal.com/profile)[**literaryspell**](http://literaryspell.livejournal.com/) took home the gold, as they say.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I solemnly swear that I am up to no good; however, I promise to return everyone, good as new, when I'm done playing with them. I own nothing that you recognize, and I do not profit from any of it.

Harry lay on the floor of Dumbledore’s office, the revelations of Snape’s memories swirling like a maelstrom through his brain.

_Finally, the truth…_

_…Like rain on a cold window, these thoughts pattered against the hard surface of the incontrovertible truth, which was that he must die._ I must die. _It must end…_

Harry took one last look around Dumbledore’s office, hoping with childish desperation that another solution might appear. That Hogwarts magic would not fail him.

Out of the corner of his eye, light flashed off the surface of something that looked vaguely familiar.

The Time-Turner. A plan began to crystallise in his mind.

He had no illusions that the Time-Turner could somehow save him. That naïveté had been stripped away by watching Snape’s memories. Harry was a Horcrux; while he lived, Voldemort could never be defeated.

But maybe, just maybe, he could right one wrong. Save one life, before he gave up his own.

There were tiny phials of potion ingredients on the shelves behind the Headmaster’s desk. Harry scrambled over to them, scanning the labels.

_Acromantula venom… powdered Basilisk fang… Basilisk venom… phoenix tears… unicorn blood… powdered unicorn horn…_

_Wait._

Harry shoved one of the phials in his pocket as a half-formed plan swirled around his brain.

He had no idea where or when Remus, Tonks or Fred had fallen. Trying to find one of them in the middle of the battle was too risky; if he was hit with a stray curse, he would never make it to Voldemort, and their fight would never be over. But there was one hero whose death he knew in sickening detail…

Going back too far in time would only delay his final task, making it all the more unbearable. He looped the chain around his neck, turned the Time-Turner one and a half times, and set it spinning. When the world stopped moving around him, he threw on his Invisibility Cloak and ran for the Shrieking Shack.

Harry crept through the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow. He heard Snape’s scream and Voldemort’s cold voice as he glided out of the Shack towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He watched himself, Hermione, and Ron climb into the Shack, the only witnesses to Severus Snape’s horrific death.

Then, he heard Voldemort’s voice reverberating around him.

_“One hour.”_

Harry flattened himself against the wall as he, Hermione and Ron crawled past him on their way back to the castle. Catapulting into action, Harry rushed into the room, skidding to his knees beside the prone man.

Working feverishly, he unstoppered the phial and poured phoenix tears over the wounds on Snape’s neck. Sitting back on his heels, he _willed_ Snape to live.

“Please,” he whispered. “Please, please…”

Seconds later, Snape took a gasping, shuddering gulp of air, his chest rising and falling rapidly as his adrenaline spiked.

Snape’s gaze swept the room frantically. Harry belatedly realised he was still wearing his cloak and yanked the hood back impatiently. Snape’s eyes widened as he saw his benefactor.

“Why-?” Snape’s choked whisper felt loud in the silent room. The older man looked away, unable to control the emotions playing across his face.

“For my mother,” Harry said softly. “For everything you tried to do. Rest now. You’ve done your part, but I still have one more task to complete.”

Snape turned back to meet Harry’s gaze, his dark eyes filled with sorrow. A gasping cough wracked his body, but he managed to nod. “Go.”

“Thank you,” Harry murmured. “For everything.” Blinking away his tears, Harry raced back towards the Headmaster’s office and his inevitable fate.


End file.
